In this age of constant connectivity, switching off has become one of the great luxuries of modern life, and it’s one of the reasons Jaakko Eino Kalevi has called his new album Out Of Touch. He explores what he calls this “essential, blissed out” state on his second album set for release on October 12th – as he meditates, in classic Jaakko fashion, on the merry-go-round of the daily grind.

To coincide with the news, he has also shared the first cut from the record, ‘Emotions In Motion’.

Directed by visual artist Ieva Kabasinskaite, the video was shot in Paris on 35mm and 16mm film. Kabasinskaite says: “The ‘Emotions In Motion’ video is inspired by the techniques used by smugglers of counterfeit luxury goods. In the video, Jaakko Eino Kalevi plays someone who is well-versed in these techniques and we see him going through these meticulous procedures. Through a bizarre visual complicity between the organic containers and their opulent content, the value of these things, as well as where they come from, is being questioned.”

Jaakko adds: “We shot the first part of the video in a busy market in Belleville. I thought I would’ve been more nervous about shooting among people but in the end I wasn’t. I wanted to buy a tracksuit but after the shoot the seller had disappeared.”

Drawing inspiration from time spent in Athens, on Out of Touch the Finnish songwriter broadens his horizons while focusing on his inner self. “Everyone knows the meaning of out of touch and it usually has negative connotations, such as lacking the latest information,” he says. “But to be out of touch can be the most ideal state.”

Written and produced by Jaakko Eino Kalevi in 2017 in studios in Helsinki and Berlin, where he lives, these ten new songs are among the richest he has composed. He also plays every instrument on the album, including the gliding lines of saxophone that lace the record’s lush grooves. Ranging in style from the Gerry Rafferty swagger of ‘China Eddie’ and Motown psych of ‘This World’ to the Aegean dub of ‘Conceptual Mediterranean (Part 1)’ and continental pop of ‘People in the Centre of the City’, each song is characterised by that familiar JEK warmth and melodic flair.

This album – his fifth solo set – feels like a natural step forward for an artist whose all-round skills have led him down some intriguing paths in the time since his last full-length. Notably, he played on David Byrne’s recent ‘American Utopia’ album, and in 2016 he was invited to join the line-up of Crammed Discs’ cult Belgian new-wave band Aksak Maboul for a run of shows. Last year, Jaakko’s synth act Man Duo released their debut album Orbit.